St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 14

SEP 30 1993 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH PORT SECTION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1993 JEFF GORDON COMMENTARY Might Be Interested In Making Smaller Investment said. "My first goal is to find people in St. Louis, because I think it's proper to have St. Louis investors," Clinton said.

Meanwhile, the campaign continues to sell club seats and luxury boxes at the Partnership's downtown sales office. The office hours remain 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the numbers to call are 421-0440. 291-1995 and 1-800-4FOOTBALL. Credit cards may be used to make purchases.

The Partnership offers a messenger service to pick up deposits and signed contracts. By Jo Mannies and Jim Thomas Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Pittsburgh businessman John E. Connelly appears willing to invest in the St. Louis NFL Partnership, but for a smaller amount than previously reported. Last week, Connelly said a deal was imminent in which he would put up what could be as much as $70 million to enable Partnership head Jerry Clinton to complete his expansion team ownership group.

But that deal apparently fell apart over the weekend because Connelly was un- Athletes With A Real Bite Need Not Bark Our nation's big three cultural icons Barney, Bart and Beavis are teaching our youth the values they will need to lunge into society and become groping bottomfeeders. So if our kids want to achieve, they must watch the MTV-style sneaker commercials to find the real pearls of wisdom. And perhaps the most sage ship's financial package. Sources say Al Kerth of the Fleish-man-Hillard public-relations firm has been asked by Clinton to help line up some wealthy individuals locally. Kerth confirmed his involvement but declined to say who he had approached, what sort of response he was getting, or how much people were being asked to contribute.

Sources say Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, D-St. Louis County, is looking for potential investors elsewhere. His staff declined to comment Wednes day.

But last week, Gephardt said he had put together a list of about a dozen wealthy individuals who might be able to invest $70 million in a team. Connelly was among them and became interested after he was approached by Gephardt. Connelly could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Clinton, as usual, declined to identify any potential investors. They have not granted permission to divulge their names or to comment on the status of negotiations, Clinton willing to be a so-called "silent partner" who would allow Clinton to call all the management decisions.

However, sources said Wednesday that Connelly is willing to contribute a smaller amount. Under that scenario, sources say, several partners each would put in about $10 million or so. Clinton and his allies are waging a two-pronged effort to bring several investors into the Partnership. The idea is have several people who combined would contribute the $70 million needed to complete the Partner advice comes from the simplest advertising slogan: "Just Do It." Today's athlete should take this command to heart. Our jocks are so caught up in looking tough MU Fertilizing Its Grass Roots Mizzou Copes With Regulations To Reopen The St.

Louis Pipeline Jim RackwitzPost-Dispatch Linebacker Darryl Major (55) of Mehlville High is the only St. Louisan regularly starting for ML). Mizzou Local Line Hometowns Of Missouri Football Players Missouri St. Louis starter: LB Darryl Major, Mehlville High. St.

Louis-area players on Missouri second-team offense and defense: OTMatt Dowil (Union); By Vane Gregorian Of the Post-Dispatch Staff COLUMBIA, Mo. In the near future, Missouri Tigers fans will review a parade of St. Louisans strutting about Faurot Field. MU underclassmen Greg Smith (John Burroughs), Rahsetnu Jenkins (Mehlville), Demontie Cross (Hazel-wood East), Donnell Jones (Hazel-wood East), Matt Dowil (Union), Vic Faust (Althoff), and Darryl Chatman (Lutheran North) all were on Post-Dispatch "most wanted" lists of high school recruits. Kyle Black (Sumner) was among SuperPrep Magazine's 15-most-coveted Midwest recruits.

"It ought to be automatic," said MU starting linebacker Darryl 'Major, a junior from Mehlville High. "It should be deviant to go out of state." The bumper crop of futures notwithstanding, Mizzou has less than battened down the hatches in St. Louis in recent history. Major is the only St. Louisan entrenched as a starter at Missouri.

Backup guard Chris Harrison (Chaminade) got one start, and Jenkins returns kickoffs. Of the 14 Missourians starting for the Tigers, there will be more from Monroe City fullback Michael Washington and safety Andre White than from the Gateway City when MU meets Southern Methodist on Saturday. "The perception of the University of Missouri in St. Louis is not a good one it wasn't when we got here," said Mizzou coach Bob Stull, who added that he believes that tide has ebbed. "It's slowly taking place, but it certainly hasn't happened overnight." If Mizzou hasn't corralled all the prospects it wanted in St.

Louis, it's not for lack of exertion. "I think they've done an excellent job," Mehlville coach Gary Heyde said. "They cover it thoroughly and do about all they can do." Although Stull offended some local coaches early in his tenure by saying a recruit from Texas was as valuable as a recruit from Missouri, he has put a premium on St. Louis. On Friday, the first day coaches are permitted to visit high schools, Stull will deploy five staffers to about 20 St.

Louis high schools. Last summer, MU welcomed a group of about 80 teen-agers from the Mathews-Dickey Boys' Club for an impromptu one-day clinic and tour. And Mizzou had the curious misfortune of signing five prospects among the area's most wanted who never panned out. "I was thinking we signed more guys than that," Stull said, laughing. Mehlville's Frank Fischer returned home -days after arriving at MU; Lindbergh's Ken Payne and East St.

Louis' Homer Bush reneged on their commitments and pursued baseball careers; tailback Mark Jackson (Kirkwood) quit because football conflicted with his values as a Jehovah's Witness; and Ken Dunn (East. St. Louis) was an academic Still, it is apparent that MU hasn't sealed its most abundant resource from meddling out-of-state recruiters. "That's been going on for a while," Hazelwood East coach Rick Gor-zynski said. "I don't think it started with Bob Stull." The medley of reasons include! a change in recruiting rules; lack of continuity; strategic blunders; and admissions standards.

"We don't take Prop 48s," said Stull, who this year gambled on two players who eventually qualified. But nothing has stung like the legacy of nine successive losing seasons. "I remember as a kid begging to stay up late to watch the Dan Devine and Al Onofrio television shows," McCluer North coach Jim Schott-mueller said. "And I don't know how many kids in Missouri are doing that anymore." Instead of a clamor to go to MU, many who take an interest say they are chastised when they mention it as an option. Major, Chatman and Jenkins spoke of overt pressure to avoid MU.

i "When someone would mention Missouri, there would always be maybe a pause 'Why would you go to Major said. "They'd be looking at the now thing, instead of the future thing." For a time, Mizzou's actions perpetuated the apathy and negativity. "Before Stull, it was like Mizzou came only when you had somebody who was a super athlete," Sumner coach Larry Walls said. "If you had a kid who you thought could play at See MIZZOU, Page 7 OG Chris Harrison (Chaminade); LB Darryl Chatman (Lutheran North); DF Vir FaiiKt Althnff) p.i i vviuiuuia a Out-of-state 22 (includes 9 from Texas) gk Slkeston 1 Jefferson 7 7' City St. Louis SprlngfleldV 2 1 Monroe Clty I I Out-ojstate i i Dexter 1 Slkeston 1 Columbia 1 Springfield 2 Monroe City 2 that they are forgetting how to actually play tough.

There is no better example than Atlanta Falcons coach Jerry Glan-ville, who wears black, puts on dark shades and talks all sorts of nonsense on television. He projects a biker image for himself and his team. Unfortunately, he is a better actor than coach, and his theater group keeps getting stuffed in waste cans. Miami Dolphins linebacker Bryan Cox doesn't have to talk like a fool and do the Garry Templeton at Buffalo fans to prove his ferocity. He has demonstrated his iron will by making it from to the pros from Western Illinois University, and his physical ability speaks for itself when opposing ballcarriers go oooooooomph! as he creams them.

And what's with college football? Last Saturday, the Miami-Colorado, North State, Duke-Virginia and Maryland-Virginia Tech games turned into silly-boy slap parties. The tiresome shouting, pointing and taunting turned to shoving and, ultimately, brawling. Such peripheral gridiron posturing is comical, because the players can line up every 30 seconds or so and knock the bodily fluids out of each other. If you're upset with someone, plant him into the turf up to his navel at the next snap and then just stare at him. That's intimidation, and it can be done within the rules of the game.

Why would football players ever fight? With the opportunity for horrific violence existing on every play from scrimmage, why would somebody punch another player on the facemask, or take off his helmet (exposing his head!) to swing it at a rival? Unfortunately, today's athlete believes carrying on like a pro wrestling villain is all part of the job. In baseball, any batter who gets buzzed even if he was standing on top of the plate and had to duck a slow curveball feels compelled to rush the mound and do his Chuck Norris martial arts thing. The positive aspect of all this is that through constant repetition, ballplayers actually are learning to stage decent fights that produce actual bloodshed. But these brawls serve only to spice up SportsCenter, so perhaps the hitters should focus their anger on the baseball. You want respect? Smack the ball 400 feet and then quietly circle the bases.

Monstrous blasts, not awkward charges to the mound, are more likely to send the pitcher back to his locker in the fetal position to call Mom on his cellular phone. In basketball, we have to deal with excessive trash talking and the deliberate "hard foul." But when was the last time a bunch of thugs won the NCAA or NBA title? When you face players with a runaway testosterone level, just keep making the extra pass. They are flying around, trying to block everything, slamming bodies, talking all the time. a team like that is easily frustrated. You just go right back at them.

But instead of trying to one-up their macho act, use their aggression against them with heady plays. Tease them. Foul them out. Goad them with measured blows and make them detonate. Charles Barkley is a funny, funny man, but his berserk bald-guy routine hasn't won him a thing.

When he learns to channel his warrior urges into intelligent action, maybe he'll get a championship ring. In hockey, everybody gets worked into a frenzy over the antics of the enforcers but these guys are pretty much a sideshow. The real intimidation comes via the brutal hitting that scares skittish skaters into coughing up the puck. Scott Stevens and Darius Kaspar-aitis can send guys flying into next Tuesday. Hammerheads such as Stu "The Grim Reaper" Grimson couldn't catch up to a lamppost with his bodychecks.

They exist to sell beer and create humorous anecdotes for my Inside Hockey column. Jf athletes want to really strike fear into the hearts of opponents and commancfrespect in their sport, they should remember another slogan Just Earn It. I SbSW" Jefferson City 3 Offensive and defensive starters Note: Kansas City area total includes Kenny Holly of Kansas City, Kan. First-and second-team offense and defense Note: Kansas City area total includes Molly; St. Louis area total includes Vic Faust of Belleville and Matt Dowil of Union.

Post-Dispatch graphic 1 Luck 0' Shea Disappears For Cards The Wild West: SF Falls Back The NL West race at a glance. Wednesday's results San Francisco lost 5-3 to the Colorado Rockies, ending a seven-game winning streak. Atlanta played host to Houston on Wednesday night. Standings Team Pet. GB Atlanta 100 57.637 San Francisco 1 00 58 .633 Vi Today's games Houston (Kile 15-8) at Atlanta (Smoltz 15-10), 6:40 p.m.

San Francisco (Swift 20-8) at LA (Candiotti 8-9), 9:35 p.m. Remaining games Date Braves Giants Friday vs. Colo, at LA Saturday vs. Colo, at LA Sunday vs. Colo, at LA For Braves, Giants, Last Race May End In The Late Show NEW YORK (AP) Baseball's only remaining pennant race may be headed for a very late finish in the biggest game of the year.

If the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants finish the regular season tied for first in the National League's Western Division, a one-game playoff would be held Monday starting at 9:35 p.m. St. Louis time. Conflicts with other sports and the Braves' long flight from Atlanta to San Francisco preclude an earlier start, officials said Wednesday. For baseball, already criticized for starting league playoffs and World Series games so late that most children and many adults can't even see the first pitch, it's another case of the clock running down.

Asked if there was concern about this latest late show, National League spokeswoman Katy Feeney replied: "Some, yes. But we've got to deal with practical matters." Even with a relatively quick 2y2-hour game, the last divisional winner wouldn't be decided until well past bedtime for most fans east of the Rockies and after deadlines for the majority of morning newspapers in that region. The game will start just about at halftime on ABC's "Monday Night Football" telecast of the Redskins-Dolphins from Miami. "Monday Night Football," a rating's giant for more than two decades, wasn't a factor in the late start for a possible Braves-Giants playoff, but football was. A coin toss earlier this month determined that an NL West playoff would be at Candlestick Park Oct.

4, the day after the regular season. It's also the day after the San Francisco 49ers entertain the Minnesota Vikings at the same stadium, an NFL game that won't be over until at PLAYOFF, Page 7 1 V) A Special to the Post-Dispatch NEW YORK Going into Tuesday night's game against the Mets, the Cardinals were undefeated at Shea Stadium. They were facing a pitcher making his second start in two months and a lineup void of many regulars. It didn't matter. "If we play badly, it doesn't matter where we play," Cardinals manager Joe Torre said.

And it doesn't matter who, as New York won 6-1 behind a retooled Pete Schourek. Schourek, who has only four wins this season, won for the second time against the Cardinals with eight strong innings. "We hit the ball hard," Cardinals first baseman Gregg Jefferies said. "We must have hit six balls to the warning track and four hard line drives. But we're not worried about the offense.

The offense is there." Bob Tewksbury, however, is a concern. After being scratched at the last second because of recurring inflammation in his back, Tewksbury is being sent home to be examined. "It's something that happened once before," Tewksbury said. "I just couldn't make a go of it tonight. It's been kind of an off-and-on thing, but it's always bounced back.

I guess Wayne CrosslinPost-Dispatch Borgia standouts (clockwise from lower left): quarterback Kent Skornia, tailback Brock Olivo, linebacker Nathan Blinker and receiver Nathan Philipp. FOOTBALL Cox Fined $10,000 Miami Dolphins linebacker Bryan Cox will appeal a $1 0,000 fine by the NFL for making obscene gestures to the crowd before Sunday's game in Buffalo 2 Unbeaten Borgia In many ways, things haven't changed over the years in Borgia High's football program, but this year's team has started off the season like no other team in the school's history 3 I didn't give it enough time." His replacement, Rene Arocha, was in trouble early. Chico Walker, Jeromy Burnitz and Todd Hundley began the second with consecutive singles that resulted in a 1-0 New York lead. Doug Saunders advanced the runners with a bouncer to short, and Burnitz scored on a passed ball. Arocha ended the inning by striking out Schourek and leadoff man Ryan Thomspon.

One out into the fifth, Thompson hit Arocha's first pitch over the left field wall for his 10th home run of the See CARDS, Page 5.